Not because I think labels are particularly meaningful for me, but because I know words are powerful and political- whether you intend it or not.
From my earliest memories as a little girl living in the nearly all-white suburbs of New England, my mother made damn sure I was aware of white privilege, present day racism including the defacto segregation of the northeast, and the sinful (though my mother never would have used that word) institutionally racist American history that remained unacknowledged, unresolved and unreconciled.
As a young adult, this early education in racial consciousness led me to:
- be curious about and participate in organizations like Facing History, Facing Ourselves and The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ),
- to continue to educate myself about our racist history in the United States and in the world, and the ways in which others have confronted racism non-violently,
and it prompted me to
- sit with other white anti-racist individuals, in a safe and non-shaming environment, to reflect inward on the biases and stereotypes that I have carried on in myself.
Now, I am grateful for this education and the moral values my mother parented into me, as I have found all of these endeavors to be valuable to me.
It has allowed me to have an understanding of my own white identity and what role racism played in its creation.
For example, the way racism bleached the ethnicity of my white ancestors, so that when my great-grandparents and grandparents immigrated to the United States, they were no longer Norwegian, English, and Russian (each with its own unique languages/accents, cultures and last names!), they became "purely" white.
This process of institutionalized racism not only left a cultural vacuum for most white European Americans, but for many, including my family, it left a spiritual vacuum as well.
I see this not only in my own white identity formation, but in others as well; which for some, could lead to a spiritual crisis.
Over the years, I've begun to conceptualize 5 spiritual deficits that seem linked with the impact of institutionalized (and internalized) racism on white identity.
These 5 spiritual deficits for white people can include great struggle with chronic feelings of:
1.) Scarcity instead of Abundance,
2.) Fear instead of Safety,
3.) Shame instead of Self-compassion,
4.) Resentment instead of Forgiveness,
and an over-all schema or worldview as
5.) I instead of We, or Separation instead of Interconnection.
It has allowed me to have an understanding of my own white identity and what role racism played in its creation.
For example, the way racism bleached the ethnicity of my white ancestors, so that when my great-grandparents and grandparents immigrated to the United States, they were no longer Norwegian, English, and Russian (each with its own unique languages/accents, cultures and last names!), they became "purely" white.
This process of institutionalized racism not only left a cultural vacuum for most white European Americans, but for many, including my family, it left a spiritual vacuum as well.
I see this not only in my own white identity formation, but in others as well; which for some, could lead to a spiritual crisis.
Over the years, I've begun to conceptualize 5 spiritual deficits that seem linked with the impact of institutionalized (and internalized) racism on white identity.
These 5 spiritual deficits for white people can include great struggle with chronic feelings of:
1.) Scarcity instead of Abundance,
2.) Fear instead of Safety,
3.) Shame instead of Self-compassion,
4.) Resentment instead of Forgiveness,
and an over-all schema or worldview as
5.) I instead of We, or Separation instead of Interconnection.
What's more, rather than recognize Scarcity, Fear, Shame, Resentment, "I," and Separation as spiritual deficits, they can be misperceived as false refuges- floating rafts to cling to in times of change and confusion.
I was reminded of these 5 spiritual deficits recently while re-listening to an On-Being radio podcast of a show titled "Where Does it Hurt," which included a Krista Tippet interview with African American Civil Rights leader and activist Ruby Sales.
In the interview, Ms. Sales said the following:
There’s a spiritual crisis in white America. It’s a crisis of meaning, and I don’t hear — we talk a lot about black theologies, but I want a liberating white theology. I want a theology that speaks to Appalachia. I want a theology that begins to deepen people’s understanding about their capacity to live fully human lives and to touch the goodness inside of them rather than call upon the part of themselves that’s not relational. Because there’s nothing wrong with being European American. That’s not the problem. It’s how you actualize that history and how you actualize that reality. It’s almost like white people don’t believe that other white people are worthy of being redeemed.
In contemplation of these 5 spiritual deficits, in the last couple of years, I have had increasing interest in looking at the over-lap between my social and moral values which includes living from a place of anti-racism, and my spiritual life and spiritual development.
I was reminded of these 5 spiritual deficits recently while re-listening to an On-Being radio podcast of a show titled "Where Does it Hurt," which included a Krista Tippet interview with African American Civil Rights leader and activist Ruby Sales.
In the interview, Ms. Sales said the following:
There’s a spiritual crisis in white America. It’s a crisis of meaning, and I don’t hear — we talk a lot about black theologies, but I want a liberating white theology. I want a theology that speaks to Appalachia. I want a theology that begins to deepen people’s understanding about their capacity to live fully human lives and to touch the goodness inside of them rather than call upon the part of themselves that’s not relational. Because there’s nothing wrong with being European American. That’s not the problem. It’s how you actualize that history and how you actualize that reality. It’s almost like white people don’t believe that other white people are worthy of being redeemed.
In contemplation of these 5 spiritual deficits, in the last couple of years, I have had increasing interest in looking at the over-lap between my social and moral values which includes living from a place of anti-racism, and my spiritual life and spiritual development.
I realize for many people, this evolution of bringing social and moral values to the realm of spiritual life and development may seem completely obvious- it probably is.
But for someone like me, who grew up in a completely secular world that was sterile of anything related to religion, god and spirituality (or ethnic culture), this was actually pretty radical for me.
After the White Supremacist Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month that led to a death of a counter-protester, Heather Heyer, I came upon an interesting online article called: "For White Christians Non-Racism is Not Enough," in America Magazine: The National Catholic Review.
Though not a Christian myself, I've always been intrigued with the work of those Christians who demonstrate their profound and admirable commitment to equality and justice through their day-to-day lives.
In the article, the author Meghan Clark (a white female professor of Moral Theology at St John's University) said the following:
We live in a culture that idolizes personal choice. This has obstructed our ability to recognize, confront and dismantle racism. Our narrow focus on the individual has deluded us into thinking that as long as we do not personally malign, attack or discriminate against persons of color, we can claim to be non-racist. Non-racism is a supposed third option, beyond racism and anti-racism, where politeness and civility are paramount. It recognizes the evil of white supremacy but, like Pontius Pilate, washes its hands of responsibility. As such, it is a rejection of racism that is also a passive acceptance of white supremacy. It allows white Christians to acknowledge racism is a sin while continuing to reap the benefits of white supremacy.
It seems necessary, now more than ever, to challenge ourselves to dig deeper than the visible thoughts and behaviors of racism and anti-racism in order to touch into what may lie underneath.
For many white people, I believe this may include the 5 spiritual deficits I mentioned above. Because, just imagine what variety of thoughts and behaviors would be born of a white person who lived from a place of Abundance, Safety, Self-Compassion, Forgiveness, "We," and Interconnection?
May it be so.
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